PBS Video Streaming Service Update for VIVA Members

VLA VIVA User’s GroupVLA Annual Conference 2007

Ralph Albericoalberira@jmu.edu

James Madison University

Licensing Considerations - PBS

• Breadth of coverage, quality of content

• One-time fee vs. ongoing subscription

• Term license vs. perpetual license

• Access via IP domain vs. authentication

• Downloading vs. stream only

• Subsidiary rights and stability of content

The PBS Collection

• Content supports learning across schools• 498 titles, over 500 hours of video• Delivered as MPEG-4 DVDs ~2 mbps• Broad subject coverage & high production

values, low “volatility”• License in perpetuity, one fee, host your own• Downloading prohibited• User id and password required for

authentication and authorization

Streaming Video Planning Goals

• Develop expertise with rich media within the consortium

• Establish a forum for resource sharing and information exchange

• Recommend technical specs and technical support structures

• Recommend approaches to cataloging, resource discovery and preservation

• Develop models for user support

Planning Issues

• Wide variation in infrastructure and technical expertise among VIVA members

• Bandwidth!!!• Server/service management issues• Encoding – facing multiple, changing formats• Access control – for local and central services• Resource Discovery & Cataloging• Integration with learning & teaching• User support

Parallel Strategy Elements

• Emphasize VIVA principles of sharing, equitable access and cost effectiveness

• University of Virginia provides central hosting under Shibboleth; other schools can opt to host their own content and/or use central host

• Define and follow best practices• Encode files to a standard and share them• Divide the labor, avoid duplication of effort• Pursue common denominator solutions (e.g.

same encoding and cataloging for local and central hosting)

Shibboleth Definition

The Hebrew word used by Jephthah as a test-word by which to distinguish the fleeing Ephraimites (who could not pronounce the sh) from his own men the Gileadites (Judges xii. 4-6).

2. transf. a. A word or sound which a person is unable to pronounce correctly; a word used as a test for detecting foreigners, or persons from another district, by their pronunciation.

Source: Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, 1989http://dictionary.oed.com/

User View of

Shibboleth Service

Search for a Video

I think I will search for the online video myProfessor recommended.

Request a Video Stream

This looks interesting. I think I will watch it now.

Request for Shibboleth Streaming Service

Hmm… looks like I need to click on the link to see the online video

Link to ShibbolethStreaming service atUniversity of Virginia

WAYF dialog

I guess they need to know where I am from before they let me see

the video.

Where are you from?

College of William and MaryGeorge Mason UniversityJames Madison UniversityOld Dominion UniversitySweet Briar CollegeUniversity of Mary WashingtonUniversity of RichmondUniversity of VirginiaVirginia Commonwealth UniversityVirginia Tech University

College of William and MaryGeorge Mason UniversityJames Madison UniversityOld Dominion UniversitySweet Briar CollegeUniversity of Mary WashingtonUniversity of RichmondUniversity of VirginiaVirginia Commonwealth UniversityVirginia Tech University

User request is redirected to InCommon

federation WAYF.

Login at Home Institution

Now they want me to login to JMU.

After login, assertion about user attributes is passed to streaming

service

View Stream After Authentication

Hey …this looks a lot better than what I am used to seeing on YouTube.

Streaming video in QuickTime player

Stream is launched after Shibboleth Service Provider determines that attribute obtained from Identity Provider at home school matches type of person authorized to view the stream.

Shibboleth Steps

1. Establish a federation within VIVA along with a “trust fabric” and policies governing which types of users have access to which types of video streams

2. Implement Shibboleth Service Provider for video streaming at University of Virginia

3. Join InCommon federation to manage policies and WAYF (Where are you from?) services

4. Install Shibboleth Identity Provider software at participating campuses

Server & Player Selection Issues

• Shibboleth solution requires Darwin Streaming Server (open source equivalent of QTSS)

• QuickTime is default player for the project• Server and player decisions at each school can

be made independently from central service• Standalone player offers screen size and

random access advantages• Plug-in keeps everything in the browser and

can be configured to play segments from within longer streams

Encoding Decision Process

• Encoding samples developed for each of the major media players

• Samples prepared with different compression tools, bit rates, resolutions, frame rates etc

• Samples served from different institutions and tested for quality on different bandwidth networks

• Decision to go with QuickTime compatible scheme and MPEG-4 with H.264 codec at 300 and 800 kbps

• Encoding of files outsourced to TapHere! Technologies

• Encoded files distributed from JMU on hard drives

Encoding Workflow

• Technical specifications developed and refined within VIVA

• Various approaches to encoding processes tested within VIVA

• 1 hour of streaming = 10+ hours of encoding• Decision made to outsource encoding• RFP developed for outsourcing• Key criteria: technical specifications, stream

quality, turnaround time, adherence to QA process, embedded metadata, intellectual property protection, cost

Bandwidth

• Bandwidth has been the single most critical issue

• 6 research universities have 1-10 Gigabit per second pipes to edge of campus

• 50+ campuses have pipes from 45 to 500 megabits per second capacity

• A few schools have capacity of 10 megabits per second or less

Authentication and Authorization

• Shibboleth for authorization based on user attributes

• Local authentication solutions for files hosted on individual campuses (LDAP scripts, EZ Proxy, etc)

• Authentication often happens in front of release of stream and not at local streaming servers (requires strategies to hide stream URIs)

• Moving toward authentication at server level

Cataloging & User Interface Issues

• Integrate with existing systems or develop separate repository?

• Discovery tools and schema in flux• Looked at many schema and tools for

enabling search and resource discovery (MARC, Dublin Core, MODS, MPEG-7, PBCore, Blinxx?)

• Need to balance metadata quality with a reasonable production timetable

Cataloging Strategies

• Produce records for video streams from existing OCLC MARC records

• Modify OCLC MARC records to provide episode level cataloging and suit local needs

• Prepare records to be imported into local integrated library systems

• Script iTunes atom level embedded metadata at time of encoding

• Ingest metadata from either OCLC or file manifest spreadsheet or add manually for use in local file systems and repositories

User Viewof

Locally Hosted Service

Catalog Record Display

Cataloging and User InterfaceMARC Record & Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC)

Link to Companion Web Site

Cataloging and User Interface Embedded Metadata from iTunes Atoms shown in QuickTime Player Display

OPAC Search Results Display

Catalog Display for Streaming File Record

Current Status

Streaming files encoded at 300 and 800 kbps in QuickTime H.264 format

State contract available for subsequent encoding servicesCataloging records developed for streaming files Video files and catalog records available from JMUCatalog records available from VIVA FTP siteLocally hosted service available at several schoolsCentrally hosted Shibboleth streaming operational at UVaContract template for InCommon Federation developed (5

VIVA members have joined)Apple OS X “Leopard” supports authentication at streaming

server

Next Steps

• For central service, pilot test Shibboleth with subset of VIVA schools

• Sponsor Shibboleth “Installfest”

• Conduct quality assurance testing; pursue strategies to expand access to smaller schools

• Develop “recipe” for Apple OS X Leopard and QuickTime Server to support local hosting

• License and encode additional streaming content?

• Integrate with teaching and learning systems and practices

Let’s try it out.

James Madison University Library Catalog

http://leo.jmu.edu/